Watching him tickle the ivories with the confidence of a true showman, it’s easy to forget Hunt is blind. He inherited retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that has sapped his vision over the decades just like it did his father’s.

But it hasn’t deterred the son from pursuing what he loves most.

Hunt likes to say he got into wine making because it combines all of his passions — dining, friends, music. The good-time proprietor relishes any opportunity to bring them together, which visitors to his Hunt Cellars tasting room in Paso Robles immediately discover while perusing labels that read Unforgettable, Hilltop Serenade and Imagine.

They may even walk in and discover Hunt on the piano.

On occasion, they join his sit-down winemaker’s dinner at the winery where a local chef is brought in to create multiple-course pairings for his wines — the next one is Oct. 18. After dinner, Hunt takes his place in the spotlight.

In 2012, he cut an album called “Rhapsody in Red” — a compilation of original songs that reference a specific Hunt Cellars blend but aren’t about wine.

Debbie Hunt says people gush over her husband’s performances.

They ask if he plays piano for her every night and she always has a witty comeback.

“He really does,” she’ll tell them. “He plays every night until 12 or 1 o’clock in the morning. And every night, I yell down ‘Shut the door! I’m trying to sleep!’ ”

David Hunt chuckles.

To call him a winemaker who enjoys entertaining isn’t enough.

The father of three — ages 17, 26 and 29 — has got a bit of the starry-eyed musician left over in him from youth.

When he arrived in Los Angeles in 1970, Hunt was an aspiring rock frontman from a poor family in Lexington, N.C. As one of seven children, he followed his older sister, Sandra Hunt, the wife of famed sports announcer Vin Scully, to California where he eventually made his fortune.

But before cashing in on early “smart” home technologies and real estate development, Hunt says he appeared on “The Dating Game.”

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He didn’t get the girl, but he married a model from Orange County.

Debbie Hunt has long been her husband’s right-hand in the family business, which has been producing top wines since 1997.

The Hunts searched as far east as Virginia for the best growing conditions and found it in Paso Robles.

“For hardy red grapes, it has the best climate and the best soil,” says David Hunt, who grows grapes on the 550-acres Destiny Vineyards site, named after his youngest child and only daughter.

The wines are poured by the glass at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Ritz-Carlton, Morton’s and other restaurants across the country. Many score in the 90s and have racked up best of class, platinum and gold medals, as well as cult awards from wine publications such as Wine Enthusiast.

“There are some point systems that are more well-known among wine enthusiasts than others,” says Eric Crowley, who runs Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom in Los Angeles, where he delves into what wines go with different types of food in a $90 Wine and Food Pairing Cooking Class. “But really a point system is ideal for wine consumers that don’t really have a good knowledge of wine in terms of its quality.

“California is still at the forefront,” he says. “And the central coast is really starting to come into its own as having some really great areas that are known for producing particular types of wine, especially merlot and cabernet.”

With help, Hunt will pull samples from his Hunt Cellars barrels and spends hours hand mixing them by the gallon to create new full-bodied blends with memorable finishes that spoil palates.